dansview What I love about this film, is the way it captured the fragility and innocence of youth. I'm not sure that a trained actress could have done that any better than Lynn-Holly.In perhaps her first movie at a tender age, she probably shared the real fear and wonderment of her character. In a sense, as a skater, a new actress, and a new Ice Capade star in real life, she was going through some of the same stuff that her character Lexi was experiencing.I was a person for whom youth was full of wonder, fear and innocence, so I can relate to our protagonist's gentle nature. Her lack of world-wise savvy formed the core of the plot. She had a sheltered childhood punctuated by tragedy, with the premature death of her mother. Suddenly she was thrust into the predatory world of competitive skating and sports media. Add to the mix, romantic peaks and valleys, and abandonment issues.Epic main themes manipulated the emotions of a generation of 70s film watchers, and gladly so. I credit the music here for hitting the tear-jerker grand slam. I also loved the woodsy, "farmie," "ranchie" setting in winter. Ice skaters practice year round in indoor rinks, so theoretically this movie could have been set in summer, but it would have had a totally different feel. Winter MADE this film. The weather fit the sport and personified the freshness of the rosie-cheeked Lexie.I still don't understand exactly what the father, played very aptly by Tom Skerritt, did for a living. Was it a dairy farm, cattle ranch, or what? He asks Robby Benson's character about his dad's cattle ranch. That was the only hint.The Colleen Dewhurst character was supposed to have been a winning skater herself "25 years ago," but if you look up the actress's real age, she would not have been a young woman, even 25 years prior to 1978. To me that was so obvious. 25 plus 16 is 41, and this character was way older than 41.Also, Dewhurst's character hated her life. She bemoans running a crappy bowling alley and skating rink. But I would love to live in a small town and run exactly that kind of business. Sounds like a great life, although you never see the place in full use by the public.We never hear anything about Lynn-Holly's school situation. It is not summer, so presumably she would have to go to school. That was a huge error.Also, we see the older sportscaster guy come up behind her and put his arms around her, kissing her bare neckline, as lovers do. But we had no prior warning that a relationship like this ever existed. They just pull it out of nowhere. She was legally under age, and he was the boyfriend of her coach, yet neither of those issues comes up.We are supposed to assume that they slept together. That was a major part of her personal drama, yet it is left very vague. We are to assume that he only cared about her skating, yet after the accident, he called her several times. It was clear to me that he really did love her, but in a crucial scene, she implies that he was a fair-weather friend. I didn't get that at all.Initially, we have no idea whatsoever that Robby Benson's character plays hockey, or that he is good at it. Then we see him score one goal in a local game, without even knowing that he was on a team. After that goal, he gets a tryout with a pro team. Where did that come from? I understand that it was a plot device to parallel his girlfriend's sporting aspirations, but you have to set it up better than that.I do like how we see that people are not perfect or cardboard in their nature. People in this film act self-centered, grow emotionally, and correct their misdeeds. That is true to life when people mature.I'm not sure why the crowd reacts so emotionally toward the girl in the final scene, if they don't even know that she is blind. (prior to the roses issue.) I guess we are to assume that for whatever reasons, crowds just love this girl on ice. Her prettiness no doubt helped her otherwise unlikely rise to fame, given her mature age for a skater.I'm o.k. with the choice of Robby Benson, although he did not look like a Midwestern farm boy, nor a hockey player. I think he did a splendid job of conveying his character's genuine emotions, including jealousy, love, and confusion. His facial expressions were key to the effectiveness of the drama.Yes, the plot device of showing that people can overcome adversity, using sports as a metaphor is a cliché, but that's o.k. How you execute the plot is more important. While blindness is a bit heavy-handed, some key performances, memorable music, and a frosty setting help tell this story with considerable style and grace.

Jake Fortune "Ice Castles" is one of the films I must re-watch by myself. I do not wish others to know that I am a sap for Marvin Hamlisch's emotive score, the kitschy grace of figure skating, a wronged babe fighting back story, and a thick-headed, dumb-about-the- girl, guy theme that resolves itself just before the credits roll. Ice Castles' final course recipe of long-stemmed roses tossed on the ice that can not be seen by the recovering champion, blind skater, Marvin's music, the guy (Robbie Benson), and again the music .... Well the tears need no cue, they just flow. Many of my pals were extras in the scenes filmed at the old Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota and its fun seeing how they looked before they took up golf or became hockey moms. But really, I most like the joyously happy ending -- one that redeems dumb guys like me.For years when Walkman headsets were fashion statements, I went on runs through Central Park and rides on packed New York subway trains plugged into a cassette tape of the sound track.

ccthemovieman-1 This is far from a believable story: a top ice skater losing her sight and then becoming even a better skater after becoming blind! I don't think so.However, the girl - "Alexis Winston," played by Lynn-Holly Johnson - is such a beautiful and sweet person that she alone makes the movie worth watching. Johnson was an accomplished skater in her own right, so she makes the skating scenes look realistic.The bad news was the character, "Beulah Smith," portrayed by Colleen Dewhurst, an annoying butch-like foul-mouthed woman, the opposite of Johnson. Her bad mouth prevents this from being a good family film, which it could have been. She isn't the only offender, but is, by far, the worst....and all of it was unneeded, but that's Hollywood in the 1970s for you. Familiar '70s actor Robby Benson plays Johnson's boyfriend, but he's not all that likable, either.This is mainly Johnson's film. She never really was that much of an actress, but her other qualities and talents overcame that shortcoming.

loveout Most will either love Ice Castles or hate it. Perhaps hate is a little harsh but it gets the point across. For a film with numerous shortcomings it has achieved somewhat of a cult following. So much so that Columbia Tristar decided to release it in DVD format several years ago.What's wrong with the movie? For a film partially intended to appeal to the teenage crowd, it is unnecessary to have any foul language. Yet Ice Castles is sprinkled with four letter words from the beginning to the end. It doesn't advance the plot one iota and it's inclusion in the film is a mystery. Perhaps the producer thought a "G" rating would doom it at the box office and added the harsh language to get a "PG". Whatever the reason it degrades the film.Many of the lines the actors speak seem to be more or less mumbled and hard to understand. Not sure if this is a sound problem or simply bad acting.There is a severe lack of continuity in some scenes. For instance Lexie is first wearing a green jacket in the segment where she is learning to skate on the pond after becoming blind. Suddenly she is wearing a blue jacket in the next scene and just as suddenly goes back to the green jacket! Not to mention her being bare-headed and then is seen wearing a beige hat and then back to being bare-headed again! The producer must have been blind too!!The original film was 115 minutes according to a New York Times review in 1979. However, the VHS and DVD versions are about 108 minutes. Where are the missing 7 minutes and why were they not included?Nevertheless, despite these and other faults, the film works due in large part to Marvin Hamlisch's stirring music and Lynn-Holly Johnson's beautiful skating. It is a three-hankie the first time you see it and has inspired many young hopefuls to take up the sport. A must-see if you like films that turn tragedy into victory.